It's the 5th today, four days after the general assembly ended. All classes have submitted their competition entry forms.
The final modification deadline is 17:00, and it's now 16:50. The modifications were completed just before the deadline.
Unable to resist Arisu's test, Houtarou ultimately chose to accompany Kōhei to Tomonari's office to add his name to the 1200-meter all-grade relay event.
On the way back from the office, Kōhei showed keen interest.
"So you're going to run in the final event, Houtarou-kun."
He has access to the physical fitness data for all Class A students. For the 1200-meter all-grade relay event, each class must select three male and three female students.
Houtarou's running speed meets the requirements according to the male students' data, making him a suitable relay runner.
Since the three male students already listed are all from Arisu's faction, replacing any of them won't cause issues, given both his class position and relationship with her.
"Though which leg I'll run is still undecided." Houtarou said.
Because…
〖 Side Task: Defeat, Do Not Lose! 〗
〖 Task Requirement: Defeat Miyabi Nagumo in the All-Grade 1200m Relay! 〗
〖 Task Duration: Sports Festival Day 〗
〖 Task Punishment: Deduction of 100,000 Private Points! 〗
〖 Task Reward: Special Ability — Equivalent Exchange! 〗
The quest requires defeating Miyabi, and given his personality, he'll almost certainly participate in the 1200-meter relay.
To defeat him, Houtarou needs to determine which leg Miyabi will run. This information needs confirmation.
{T/N: Leg is a term used here to refer to a runner's section of the relay race. Since it's a race with 3 people, there's a section for each runner.}
Having been in the Go-Home Club and playing only minor roles in sports festivals, Houtarou lacks relay race experience. He'll need to practice baton handling and other techniques — all details that require confirmation.
At the intersection, he and Kōhei went their separate ways.
"What a coincidence—"
On his way to the soccer club, Houtarou encountered Honami.
She was alone, holding a small notebook and taking notes.
Approaching from behind, Houtarou could see her writing — entries about Class A, Masayoshi Hashimoto, Masumi Kamuro, Hayato Kitō, and others.
There was also Class C's Ken Sudō marked with emphasis, and in Class D's section, Minori Kinoshita had a star by her name.
Based on his information, Minori was an official member of Kakeru's class track and field team. The partial data showed she had been a track and field star in middle school, making her an excellent seed player.
Below her name was Mio Ibuki.
She was the spy Houtarou had given to Honami after staging a scene with Kakeru. During that staged discord, Mio had demonstrated fighting ability, making her athletic talents worth noting.
Piecing this information together, it was clear Honami was investigating potential athletes from other classes.
As he approached Honami, he caught the pleasant scent of her body wash — the same unisex one he used, though she wore it more elegantly.
"What a coincidence." Honami greeted him. Clever as she was, realizing he'd spotted her note-taking, she asked directly, "Could it be that Oreki-kun is out scouting too?"
"You as well, Ichinose-san? I just finished training and thought I'd look around." Houtarou had actually come to confirm Miyabi's relay position, but he decided to try getting information from her first.
However, he seemed to hit a sensitive spot.
"Umm..." She gave a slightly dejected look, "My physical abilities aren't very good, so I can only participate in mandatory events. All I can do is help the class by gathering information."
Her physical abilities aren't good?
Indeed, she seemed to be struggling too.
Houtarou knew Airi Sakura wasn't athletic either. According to Kikyō's crude comment, how could anyone run fast with such a large chest?
She shouldn't make such remarks, considering her own figure.
Clearly, a larger chest could affect movement. Though from Kikyō's tone, perhaps she was slightly envious of Airi's figure?
Though Kikyō's own figure was quite attractive — something that never failed to make his heart race.
Of course, this didn't change the fact that Kikyō seemed to be subtly pushing Airi toward him, likely to free herself.
While she had been understanding on the ship and immediately after returning to school, these past two days she'd grown more aggressive and less accommodating. It was becoming troublesome.
Thanks to his Precognitive Dream, Houtarou knew her efforts would prove futile.
After all, when the future Suzune — the lawyer — had left, she came over wearing the other woman's pajamas and wanting to sleep with him. That really scared him then.
"Although Ryūen is being secretive, students still need to participate in school clubs," Honami said with a hint of complaint.
This further showed that Kakeru wanted to make a big splash at the sports festival. His class members were only allowed to participate in club activities, likely to prevent their entry list from leaking.
Though all lists had been submitted, a leaked list could still leave them vulnerable to underhanded tactics during the competition. Kakeru was probably being overly cautious — the only ones likely to attempt such tactics would be their own class.
"Well, keep gathering your information." Houtarou said, "I'm heading to the soccer club."
"The soccer club..." Honami's expression seemed somewhat conflicted.
And he understood why.
The soccer club had two excellent first-year students: Ryūji Kanzaki and Sō Shibata. Both were seed players from her class.
Houtarou had arranged with Suzune for Class C's entry form to have Ken as the main player, letting him exploit the substitution bug in the mixed-gender three-legged race. This had likely caught Class B's attention, and Honami's side was probably preparing to exploit this bug as well.
If Ken kept taking first place, wouldn't it be reasonable for Class B to settle for second and third place?
And the ones who could exploit this strategy would be her classmates Kanzaki and the athletic powerhouse Sō.
Ironically, though Houtarou had deliberately arranged for Honami and the others to discover this bug, now they were worried about him knowing?
Indeed.
Looking at the current class standings, Class A leads by a significant margin with 1,801 points, followed by Class B with 970 points, while Class C and Class D trail behind with 780 and 440 points respectively.
Class B's situation is quite tough. While Kakeru's class has fallen and needs to climb up, Honami's side faces an uphill battle with Class A far ahead. Moreover, being assigned to the white team in the red and white division, she likely realizes her team has a high chance of losing.
They'll lose 100 class points when the white team loses. They need to make a strong showing in this competition — ending up at the bottom of their grade's rankings would only increase the psychological pressure on them.
Though she looks quite cute when she's nervous like this. Houtarou feels he's been exposed to too much feminine charm today.
So he kindly said, "I'm here to find Nagumo-senpai. My relationship with him isn't very good, and since he's in the soccer club, I can take this chance to ask him some questions."
Miyabi has the academic ability to get an A, strong athletic abilities, and the looks of a handsome guy.
While Manabu worries about Miyabi's desire to implement an absolute meritocracy, it's understandable why Miyabi would want this.
After all, he belongs to the elite group — he's one of the beneficiaries.
Now, after losing his position as vice president, he hardly ever misses soccer club activities, likely to maintain his image. He'll probably come to today's activities too.
"I see." Honami nodded gently.
She seemed to have calmed down.
"But does this mean that Oreki-kun has definitely decided to participate in the 1,200-meter all-grade relay race?" She asked with a cute smile, leaning in slightly, pressing her body forward.
This posture was quite adorable — and clearly meant to gather information.
'Oh. So you're trying to collect information about me too. That's not very nice, Honami-san. And you've learned to use feminine charm as a weapon. You copied this from Kikyō-san, didn't you?'
Houtarou had seen Kikyō use this tactic on him twice before.
It seems her intentional effort to build rapport with Honami on the island worked — they're getting along well enough to copy each other's techniques.
"Just decided." Houtarou said, "But since my opponent is Nagumo-senpai, I need to confirm which leg he's running."
Houtarou and Honami headed to the soccer club together.
On the field, the club members were in the middle of practice.
"Ichinose-san!" called out Sō from Class B, noticing his class's angel approaching.
Energized by her presence, he executed an impressive pass.
"Hmm…" Ryūji, also on the field, took note of Houtarou's presence.
Both Rokusuke from Class C and Houtarou from Class A cast long shadows over Ryūji, making him particularly wary of their presence.
He hadn't anticipated Sō's sudden display of exceptional skill.
This performance level essentially confirmed Sō's status as a seed player.
Ryūji pressed his left hand against his face, looking both speechless and helpless — clearly distressed that his class's strategic player information had been exposed.
⍟⍟⍟
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